Men's Volleyball Defeats #3 Wentworth and SUNY Potsdam to Open 4-0

Photo by: Cottonwood Studios CNY (cottonwoodstudioscny.com) 

UTICA, N.Y.- The Juniata men's volleyball team completed the weekend sweep following a 3-1 victory over #3 Wentworth (25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 25-21) and a 3-0 win over SUNY Potsdam (25-11, 25-19, 26-24). 

The Eagles faced their first ranked opponent of the season in Wentworth, winning the first two sets before bouncing back for the match win in the fourth. 

Juniata opened the first set with a 4-2 lead that saw a pair of Max Cooley kills, and Juniata maintained a two-point gap up to a 6-8 scoreline. The Leopards fired in three kills to take a 9-8 lead before a Wentworth service error and block from Juniata's Kevin Duffy III and Reese Ganter earned the lead back. The sides traded points before Juniata opened up a 14-12 lead off a Maxwell Barr kill, Leopard attack error, and an ace from Drew Hunker, with Wentworth calling a timeout to quell the Eagle's momentum. 

The sides traded points upon returning until Wentworth went on a three-point run off a pair of Juniata errors and a Leopard kill to get back within one. Ganter set Cooley for a kill, followed by a Barr ace to go ahead 21-17. Wentworth got back within one point at match point, but the Eagles grabbed the point needed on a Tyler Goldsborough kill to claim set one. 

Juniata had a .409 hitting percentage with a match-high 14 kills in the first set. 

The second set saw Wittenberg remain within a few points of the lead in the early stages before a middle-stage Eagles run killed any attempt of the Leopard grabbing the set that Juniata won 25-17. The sides traded points early, with Wittenberg drawing level at 4-4 after falling behind by two points off a kill and attack error. Juniata followed this with an 8-2 run where Juniata collected three kills, an ace from Cooley, a block from Luke Hoffman, and a block from Hoffman and Barr. This gave Juniata a 12-6 lead. 

Wentworth called a timeout and swiftly returned with a three-point run to get back within three. The sides traded points, with Wentworth staying within a few points at 15-12. Juniata went on a 6-1 tear with a trio of Goldsborough kills to go ahead 21-13. The sides traded points up to set point, as Duffy and Cooley's block ended the second. 

Juniata hit .267 while limiting errors to four. Their opponents were kept to a -.043 hitting percentage with only seven kills and eight attacking errors. 

The third set saw Wentworth climb out to an early lead from a Juniata offense that conceded nine attack errors, and they were able to stall out a late Juniata comeback that saw the Eagles go ahead 19-17 before shifting momentum for a 21-25 third set. The Leopards swiftly were ahead 6-3, and they maintained a gap of a couple of points until back-to-back Duffy Kills put Juniata back level at 10 apiece.  

A Juniata service error, two attack errors, and a Wentworth kill put the Leopards up by four as Juniata called timeout. The Eagles returned from the break on a 7-3 run that saw two Duffy kills and a Goldsborough ace to tie the set back at 17-17. Wentworth called timeout, but Juniata tacked on two more with another Goldsborough ace and an attack error from Wentworth. Wentworth tacked on two more to tie the set at 19 each, then Hoffman delivered a kill to go ahead one more time. Wentworth posted three straight on a Juniata service error, kill, and block to go ahead 22-20 and force an Eagles timeout. Wentworth delivered another big block and recovered from a service error to win the set 25-21. 

Set four saw Juniata pull out to a modest lead early that they carried out to a 25-21 final score. After falling behind 2-1, Juniata drew level on a kill from Duffy and a kill from Cooley to go ahead 3-2. The Leopards drew level on a kill before a four-point run gave Juniata a 7-3 lead. The Eagles maintained a gap between six and eight points for much of the middle stages of the set after going on a three-point run with two Bar aces to go ahead 14-7. The Eagles got to a 23-15 lead before beginning to face a press from Wentworth. The Leopards registered a kill and attack error before conceding a service error to put Juniata at match point at 24-17. They earned three points on an Eagles service error, a Wentworth ace, and a kill to force a Juniata timeout. The Eagles got the point they needed upon returning to the court with a Cooley kill. 

Goldsborough and Duffy each registered .333 hitting percentages, with Goldsborough collecting 13 kills and Duffy seven. Cooley totaled 13 kills as well, with a .280 hitting percentage. Barr led with 12 digs, while Duffy's six block assists were a team-high, followed by Barr's four block assists and Hoffman's two solo blocks and two block assists. Barr also collected three aces, while Ganter totaled 41 digs. 

Juniata was three-and-out against SUNY Potsdam, but the points gap narrowed with each set as the errors increased.  

The Eagles started with a 25-11 first set and a .476 hitting percentage. Potsdam scored first on a service error, but Juniata followed with five straight on two kills, a block, a setting error, and an attack error. The sides then traded points, with the Bears staying within five up to 12-7. Juniata then delivered four straight off a Barr kill, a Cooley kill, a block, and a Potsdam attack error. Potsdam put up a couple, but they were unable to halt Juniata's momentum, as a six-point run from Juniata saw two blocks and several Potsdam errors but the first at set point. Potsdam gained one on a serve error before Austin Goodsel finished set one. 

Juniata held the lead for most of the second set but didn't gain a large advantage until the last moments of the set. The Bears found themselves ahead 4-6 early off a three-point run, but Juniata claimed three back via a Hoffman ace and Joseph Chambers kill. Potsdam tied the set at 7-7 and 8-8 but faded to an attack error and Cooley kill. Juniata maintained a lead of a few points until finally breaking away at 20-18 with a four-point run, with kills from Campbell Gerdeman and Cooley contributing to a 23-18 lead. Potsdam got one point back, but this was quickly quelled by a Gerdeman kill and Hoffman ace.  

Juniata struggled through most of set three, hitting a .030 and totaling a season-high of ten aces in one set before snagging a 26-24 win to end the match. Juniata quickly found themselves down 3-9 after suffering five attack errors and a setting error. Kills from Cooley and Hoffman, with an attack error from Potsdam, got them within three before the Bears tacked on two more. Juniata got back within one following a four-point run, but they did not get back level until the score was 16-16.  

The sides again tied up at 18, 19, and 20, with Juniata pulling ahead by three off a Gerdeman kill and a pair of blocks. Potsdam got two points back, and then a Cooley kill put the set to match point. A set error and attack error leveled the scoreline once more at 24-24. Juniata used a service error to get to match point once more, and a block from Chambers and Tyler Phillips gave Juniata a weekend sweep. 

Cooley led the match with 13 kills while posting a .320 hitting percentage. Hoffman collected six kills with a .308 hitting percentage. Gerdeman had a team-high eight digs, while Hoffman posted a solo block and four block assists. Chambers and Hoffman each had three aces. 

The Eagles leave the first weekend of play 4-0, dropping three total sets across the four matches.  

Juniata will travel to Wittenberg University for the Jim Coleman Invitational next weekend. They'll face the task of challenging #1 Carthage on Friday at 6:00 p.m. before playing two matches on Saturday. They square up against hosts Wittenburg at noon before wrapping up the Jim Coleman Invitational against Aurora at 4:00 p.m.  

Juniata is 7-5 overall against Carthage, falling in four sets in 2018. Wittenberg is 4-1 against Wittenberg on a four-game win streak, and they face Aurora for the first time.